The paperwork is in, and the Council & School Board candidates are official. Council-wise, Kathy Graziano will run unopposed in the 4th while Marty Jewell has 2 competitors, realtor Mark E. Brandon and Lee Shewmake (a name that should be familiar to area residents) in the 5th. 9th District incumbent Doug Conner also has 2 competitors, former School Board rep and City Councilman Eugene Mason and Adrian R. Preston.

On the School Board side, the 4th District race should prove to be interesting. Regular readers are by now getting familiar with Bert Berlin. Jon Mallard, John Lloyd and Adria Graham Scott are also in, making this the most crowded school board race of the year. 5th District incumbent Betsy Carr has one challenger, Rev. Otis Mallory, while Evette Wilson runs unapposed in the 9th.

And on a related note, the good folks at the Virginia Public Access Project have already started adding contribution data for council races.

Two 4th District meetings will be held in May. Wednesday May 14th’s meeting (7PM, St Luke Lutheran Church) will discuss plans to widen Forest Hill Avenue. The May 21st meeting (7PM, Crestwood Presbyterian Church) meeting will address proposed widening of Jahnke Rd.

With the news that 4th District rep George Braxton wouldn’t be returning to the School Board after his current term is up, we wondered who would be best for the 4th District. The first candidate has stepped up in the form of local blogger Bert Berlin. We’re hoping to catch up with Bert for a brief Q&A regarding his candidacy (and if you have any burning questions, shoot ‘em our way).

This begs the question: will Bert run unopposed, or will other hats be thrown into the ring?

It’s street cleaning week for most of us. The city seems a little more tow-happy than in the past, so park accordingly.

70th District Delegate Dwight Jones has long been rumored to be considering a run for mayor this fall. The appearance of a preliminary web site seems to confirm those rumors (though the site’s address now redirects to Google, probably to keep away prying eyes ’til it’s ready for public consumption).

This begs the question: who would run for Jones’ seat in the House of Delegates?

Doug Wilder’s latest Richmond.com Q&A features a question from Westover Hills resident Howard Carlson:

Why should citizens bear the brunt of increased water costs when the largest users are already getting a break for consumption?

A comment to the same article also asks a question that may be of interest to local readers.

(This story comes to us from Marc LaFountain with Richmond DPW. We’ve been meaning to post it for a couple weeks now)

On January 23, a Department of Public Works sanitation crew working in the Oxford area of southwest Richmond came upon an elderly woman lying in her driveway. They immediately helped her home and offered medical assistance. They also arranged for her to have special door service so that she will not have to bring her trash can down to the street in the future.

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From the Office of the Press Secretary:

Mayor L. Douglas Wilder announced today the beginning of a month-long “Give Us the 4-1-1” campaign to help the City improve its new 311 Call Center to handle citizen requests for municipal services.

The campaign, which will run from March 11 through mid-April, is an invitation for City residents who have used the phone system and encountered problems to let the City know what those problems were so they can be corrected and the system improved.

The campaign is also an invitation for residents who have not used the system to try it and let the City know what needs to be addressed in their neighborhoods. Residents can dial 311 to report potholes, downed trees, utility issues, request social services, and other City matters.

“Now is the perfect time for a campaign of citizen feedback,” the Mayor said. “The 311 Call Center has been up and running for just over 60 days. It was officially launched January 2 and we intend to step back and see where it works and where it does not.”

“There are bugs to be worked out in the system and feedback from residents will help us improve the system and make it more efficient.”

Residents can use a special email address (311comments@RichmondGov.com) or call 311 and let the operator know they have feedback about the system.

The City plans to analyze the feedback and integrate it into the system by this summer.

Improvements to the Reedy Creek drainage system kick off Monday, March 10, and will result in the closure of West German School Road between Midlothian Turnpike and Deter Road for approximately four months. The full Dept. of Public Works press release and map of the recommended detour appear below the fold.

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The new regulations & fines associated with trash can removal have prompted a fair amount of controversy and confusion. Acting Director of the Department of Public Works Rosemary Green discusses the new situation in more detail.

Potential mayoral candidates are beginning to come out of the woodwork. Dwight C. Jones, who represents many of us in the General Assembly’s 70th District, is considering a run; in today’s Style, he tries to quash suspicions that he would be merely a stand-in for Henry Marsh, a longtime Jones ally and Wilder foe. Look for a possible announcement in Mid-March.

A closer look at how our neighborhoods voted in yesterday’s primaries:

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A T-D article on City Council members and campaign donations briefly mentions Kathy Graziano’s fundraising efforts, noting that she has “collected almost $39,000 in contributions in the last six months of 2007 and has almost $58,000 in her campaign war chest,” much of which apparently came from the business community. Jon at River City Rapids pointed out that VPAP doesn’t seem to have local election financing information any longer, so hopefully local media (cough) will help fill in the blanks for us.

Real Estate assessments have been released by the city, and can be viewed online. The party line is to expect smaller increases, with a “rise averaging a bit less than 5.5 percent.” Be warned, though:

Some South Richmond neighborhoods — mainly those with relatively modest homes worth about $150,000 or less — will see increases averaging more than 20 percent, [City Assessor James D.] Hester said.

Over here in Forest View, everyone seems to have been hit with an increase of around 10%. Our assessment has doubled since 2005. Given the utter lack of increase in services provided by the city (and the fact that both the city and RPD have repeatedly declined to assist with the out-of-control traffic situation over here), the increase is increasingly hard to swallow…

The monthly 4th District meetings have been rescheduled to 2 sessions this week: Wednesday, 6:30 pm at Forest Hill Presbyterian Church (coinciding w/ the FHNA regular meeting) and Thursday, 7:00 pm at St. Luke Lutheran Church. Director of Public Utilities Chris Beschler will talk about proposals to redesign the water and sewer rate structure and to create a stormwater utility.

Today’s T-D profiles the Westover Hills branch of the Richmond Public Library. As one of the components of the “City of the Future” plan, the library should see such improvements as “more computers and digitized catalogs to meet rising demand, and new electrical systems to handle them [...] new, energy-efficient windows and doors, better-equipped work spaces and public meeting rooms, fresh carpeting and paint, signs and shelving.”

It’s been painfully obvious that the library system has been neglected for a long time (the Main branch downtown is, frankly, embarrassing for a “flagship” building), so this is indeed welcome news.

The city’s leaf collection will begin in November, with our neighborhoods up as soon as Nov. 19

Full collection map and schedule (PDF download) and further details on the City Public Works site.

Richmond City Council last night passed legislation making it illegal to chain up a dog outside for more than an hour. It’s hardly breaking news at this point, but I thought it warranted a mention in the context of our neighborhoods. I see on a regular basis a large number of dogs in my neighborhood (Forest View) and others nearby (Northrup & Jahnke particularly) tied up for hours at a time, usually with little shelter or water. Typically, they’re pit bulls or rottweilers and the owners, when present, clearly have little regard for the animals beyond owning a “status symbol.” In the end, I suspect this law won’t do much to change things, but at least it might bring a little lasting attention to an issue that usually gets swept under the rug.

Today’s New York Times profiles the recent fireworks surrounding Doug Wilder and his clashes with City Council and the School Board. 4th District Council Rep Kathy Graziano shares her feelings:

“Mr. Wilder has the skills to do things no one else could do,” said Councilwoman Katherine C. Graziano, who voted for Mr. Wilder and contributed to his campaign. But Ms. Graziano no longer counts herself as a Wilder supporter, citing “the mayor’s disregard for the law, his lack of communication with and disrespect for Council.”

The City of Richmond has a knack for taking the national spotlight for the worst things, doesn’t it?

The Sunday T-D published an editorial by 4th District Council Rep Kathy Graziano. If you were unclear on her position re: Wilder v. School Board, this should clear things up completely.

A press release today from the Mayor’s office alerts us to a town hall meeting, 6:00PM Tuesday, October 23, at Southside Community Service Center, 4100 Hull Street.

Last night’s City Council meeting, a tense affair from the beginning, resulted in City Council voting 8-1 to join the School Board’s lawsuit against the Mayor. 4th District rep Kathy Graziano is not exactly known for her fiery rhetoric, but her comment “To me, it doesn’t even sound like the United States.” is making the rounds of all the local media this morning. The 5th District’s Marty Jewell was the sole vote against joining the suit, but he may have summed up the whole situation the best: “It was just butt-ugly.”

How true, Marty.

Good turnout at St. Luke’s tonight for the Mayor’s Town Hall meeting, with the likes of Kathy Graziano, Reva Trammell and Delegate Katherine Waddell in attendance. Not unexpectedly, a great deal of the evening concerned the Mayor’s relationship with the School Board/RPS administration. Also not unexpectedly, nothing new was revealed on that front. I was actually rather disappointed at the relatively low signal-to-noise ratio of the school-related discussion- a lot was said, but nothing was really said. I do not believe School Board Chairman/4th District Rep George Braxton was present.

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The Mayor’s 4th District town hall is tonight, 7PM, at St. Luke Lutheran Church. I’m planning to attend, so if you can’t make it and have any specific questions you’d like to have answered, pass them along and I’ll see if I can work them in.

Video of the 2 previous district meetings can be found on the city website.

Former City Councilman Manoli Loupassi will carry the Republican banner in the battle for the 68th House District. Though often referred to as being a Chesterfield district, the 68th stretches into the city, ending just east of Stratford Hills.